


"One Man's Junk Is Our Treasure"

by prostheticbrain



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Other, This isnt nsfw or anything this is just a story, oh god what do I even put here, please help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 10:04:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12187890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prostheticbrain/pseuds/prostheticbrain
Summary: Tuesday hears about the Treasure of Jamaica Plain and convinces December to go out there with him.





	"One Man's Junk Is Our Treasure"

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my God I have no idea what I'm doing. My writing kinda sucks and this is kinda long. I know there's some (a lot) of inconsistencies in the story regarding the mission ingame, but I didn't want to worry about being accurate as much as I wanted to worry about actually finishing something. So yeah.   
> Fuck

Almost everyone has heard of The Treasure of Jamaica Plain. Almost everyone who has tried finding it had died in the process. This wasn’t applicable to December and Tuesday, however. Not until they decided to have a look at it themselves.

Tuesday was the first to hear about it. He was out on his bi-monthly trip across the Commonwealth to help small settlements with their medical needs, and had overheard some patients talking amongst themselves about it. One of them had lost a family member over there it had seemed. And though Tuesday felt bad for the patient’s loss, his attention was more so focused on what had killed that person: “The Treasure of Jamaica Plain”.   
Sure, he had heard of Jamaica Plain. Nice little place, been there once or twice before the war, but what could Jamaica Plain possibly hold that was so invaluable that people were, figuratively and literally, dying to get to it? Tuesday was preoccupied with this thought for the entire time he was out. Could it have been some advanced technology stored away, possibly being saved for a dire situation, like the bombs falling? Maybe it was a cure for all diseases imaginable. Perhaps it could have been the answer to the universe and the existence of mankind. Possibilities rattled Tuesday’s mind so much that when he had gotten back to Sanctuary, December sensed that Tuesday wasn’t lost in his usual thoughts- something was much more intense than usual.

She had found him sitting under her porch in a wooden lounge chair the day he came back. His belongings sat at his side while he was laid out, his hands on his lap, and his eyes staring off into the distance as he contemplated.   
“You ok, buddy?” she asked, as he pulled up a seat next to him.   
Tuesday blinked twice, almost as if he was trying to wake himself up out of his stupor.  
“I’m thinking.”  
“Yeah well, I could’ve guessed that much. What’re you thinking about? Whatever it is, must be pretty heavy.”  
“…Its Jamaica Plain. There’s treasure there.”  
“Treasure? Like…’Arrr, me matey!’ kinda treasure?” She hooked her index finder to resemble that of a pirate’s hook hand for emphasis.  
“We don’t know. That’s the thing. One of my patients had talked about it. He lost a family member. It seems that whatever the Treasure is, its not easily accessible.” He paused for a moment. “…I want you to come with me to get it.”  
“Psshh, what!?”, she exclaimed incredulously. “Are you nuts? For one thing that’s aaaallll the way across the friggin’ Commonwealth. Another, like, do we even know what’s killing these people? There could be like twenty deathclaws or giant mirelurks or something!”  
“Well…he didn’t say what killed them…I’m not even sure if he knew…”  
“Exactly! Look, you know I’m all about adventure. I’ll take on anything. Hell, I’ll take on the whole damn world! But this? I really don’t want to risk this. Sorry.”

There was another pause between them. She has a point, Tuesday thought. But he wasn’t going to give up easy.   
Finally, the pause was broken when Tuesday turned to make eye contact with December, and put on his puppy-eyes face.  
“Ohhh no, don’t you dare-“  
Tuesday’s face softened even further, looking even more heartbroken.   
“You better not-“  
He did a little sniffle.  
“Oh my GOD! Ok!” She threw up her arms in defeat. “You are SO evil with that face!”  
Tuesday fought back the urge to make the biggest shit-eating grin at her. He smiled to himself as he turned away, reveling in the victor. “When do you want to leave?”  
December sighed. “Gee, uh, let me think…I guess we could do it tomorrow. Jude and Wendell should be coming back tonight from their rounds.” She rose from her seat. “Let’s get a headstart on packing and planning. This is going to be a long ass trip and I don’t want any sort of hitches. Especially not from you, mister.”  
“Of course. You know I’m not a troublemaker.”  
“Yeah, but this has trouble written all over it. And if I didn’t love you as much as I do, I wouldn’t have agreed.”  
“You know it was the puppy eyes.”  
“…that too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Once the arrangements were finished, the two had left early the next morning.   
The trek was expansive. December was used to traveling a lot, but she simply couldn’t keep up with Tuesday and his eagerness to get there. He lead the way, and rambled on and on about his theories as to what’s hidden there and any plans that were placed in case if anything went astray. This was unusual as it was usually December leading and her being the one to talk her head off the entire time, however this made her realize just how important this was to him. She would’ve wanted Tuesday to help her with something like this, so it’d be only fair. Not to mention that when Tuesday wanted something, he was going to do whatever it takes to get it. Though, the nagging feeling of uncertainty still nipped at her mind’s heels every step of the way. She prayed that things would just go smoothly.

It was late at night, but in the wee hours of the morning when they had arrived. They didn’t stop to camp along the way but rather took a few breaks. Neither of them slept a wink, which was not something December wasn’t used to, but Tuesday valued any bit of sleep he could get. And yet, he was still as tenacious as ever, if not a bit delirious.   
The town was laden in a blanket of empty yet foreboding aura. The first thing that they came to was a corpse of what may have been a civilian or a caravan, and a ghoul. Feral. December could feel an impending disaster arriving, but fought off the urge to focus on it. She squatted near the bodies and looked over them.

“You think we oughta loot-“  
Tuesday promptly cut her short. “We don’t have time. We have to keep moving. We have to find the Treasure.”  
“Ok ok, keep your pants on…” she stood, walking away with Tuesday not before taking a final glance at the bodies.  
“My pants are on. You need to focus on what’s going on right now and not my clothes.”

The two pressed into the town. The place was overrun by them, and though it wasn’t their first time encountering ghouls, it was particularly nerve wracking this time because of the number of them, not to mention the unusual amount of withered ghouls as well. They fought tooth and nail, got themselves into a few scrapes, a couple near death situations, but eventually had cleared the place. It was dusk when the twosome decided to take another break. They rested outside of a building they had just cleared. Tuesday promptly sat on the ground and pulled his knees to his chest, while December fished some water out of a duffle bag and tossed one to Tuesday; it simply plopped onto the ground and had not granted a reaction out of him. December knew that was a surefire sign that he was exhausted as that would’ve normally startled him. She stretched her legs before she sat down next to him.

“You alright?”  
“Yeah.”   
After she popped open the can and took a sip, she looked over at him. He looked as tired as he seemed. His normally clean and prim self was ragged and disheveled, and his face looked gaunt. But still that look from earlier still persisted. This reassured December.   
“You hungry or anything?”  
“No.”  
“We’ve been going at it all day, y’know. I think we need to find somewhere to roost tonight.”  
“No.”  
“No? What do you mean ‘no’? You didn’t sleep at all last night, you have to be worn out by now.”  
“I am.”  
“So let’s find somewhere to rest then.”  
“No.”  
December inhaled sharply. She adored Tuesday’s spunk, but it was times like these when it was the hardest to get through to him. He was stubborn just like she was, and she hated that. She let go of the air she held in audibly.   
“You’re going to die of exhaustion. And when you do I’m going to laugh at you.”  
“I’m going to haunt you.”  
“What? You don’t even believe in ghosts, Tues! How are you going to be something that you don’t even believe in?” She tried not to laugh.   
“People can change.” He hid his smile, but December could hear it in his voice. She loved it when he was silly like this at times.   
“Whatever. I really think we need to rest though.”  
“No.” Tuesday said this as firmly and flatly as ever.  
December groaned.

After they had rested a bit, they got back out. The realization that they had to scour each and every one of the houses and every other nook and cranny hit December in the face like a heavyweight boxer. She tried not to complain, but it was hard not to. Tuesday on the other hand, was extensively digging through anything that could possibly point to the location of the Treasure, and how to get into it. Everything except any corpses left behind. December tried several times to tell him to check the bodies, but Tuesday was so persistent that there was something hidden in perhaps a desk, behind a bookshelf, inside of a potted plant, that that’s where they mainly focused, much to December’s dismay.   
They searched for hours on end, again. December was getting fed up with this, and wanted to tell Tuesday about how this was just a waste of time, but still, she held her tongue. The sun was rising again as December took a smoke break outside of a building. They were near the entrance again, and Tuesday was looking through a house. She spotted the body from earlier, the one she wanted to loot. Weighing her options, after she was done with her smoke, she took it upon herself to go search it. In doing so, she had found, lo and behold, a key and a holotape that appeared to be some sort of log that the person kept up with. 

She read over the content. The body’s name was Carl, and apparently he’s scammed some ex-gunner in an attempt to escape a bounty. The way he had described the situation he was in and how the Treasure was involved didn’t sound good. Either it was something special that the Sal person had already made off with, or there isn’t anything special at all. December recounted the fact she had spotted four other bodies in the area. One of them must’ve been Sal.   
Things weren’t looking right; this thought made her stomach twist.   
But she had the key. Only thing left to do now is to look. 

“December? December?”  
She rose at the sound of someone’s shambling voice. She knew it was Tuesday.   
“Over here dude. I found something.”  
“The Treasure!?” he sped over there quickly, only to come to a prompt halt when he was met with the same corpse from earlier. He grimaced at December.  
“Not the Treasure, but a lead. This guy had a key on him and a holotape.”  
“What did the holotape say?” Tuesday rubbed one of his buttons on his coat anxiously.   
“Oh uh, he just wrote about getting the Treasure. Says there’s security and shit, but I don’t think its anything we can’t get past.”  
“Do you…think he got it?”  
“Nah, he didn’t have anything on him but that and common stuff.” She pointed the key at him. “But we got this. Ready to go check it out?”  
“Yes!” Tuesday’s eyes lit up, and he darted past December towards the town hall. She followed not too far behind him. 

They entered the basement. Tuesday was practically bouncing, even when he was standing he was swaying from side to side a little in excitement. They looked around the room, and December had spotted a locked door.  
“Hey, I think I can pick this one!” December announced as she bent down on a knee to the lock’s level.  
“Good. That hallway has lasers. Turrets.” He stood behind December as she dug out a bobby pin from her pocket. She looked behind her at him.  
“Hey, I’m gonna need you to back up. Can’t focus if you’re watching me.”  
“Sorry.” He stepped back and turned to face the other way. December could hear him flapping his hands, and it made her want to do it too since she was excited, but she needed to focus on the lock. It was a rather temperamental one, but after several bobby pins she managed to get through.   
She poked her head into the room as Tuesday rushed past her. He looked around wildly as December took a second to regain her balance after he nearly had knocked her over. She was amused by the difference between them- where she was usually the excitable one and Tuesday was calmer, and how it’s switched now. Tuesday found the terminal and immediately broke into it.   
The doors opened up and revealed another hallway containing a podium with a single red button. The two stood at the entrance of the hall, just staring at it for a moment before carefully approaching it. 

“Tuesday, would you like to do the honors?” 

Tuesday slammed the button without a word. The big two metal doors swung open upon and finally, the room itself opened up. Lights came on, row by row. Battle Hymn of the Republic played jauntily over the speakers as the two stood in the doorway.

There were glass displays of…ordinary things. One container had sports paraphernalia, one had newspapers and old books and a camera, another had medical items, and one with clothes and random personal effects.

All were prewar things.

Things that Tuesday and December had seen and interacted with before.

This wasn’t treasure.

This was some sort of time capsule. 

They stood there quietly. December slicked her hair back as she looked around.   
“Well, uh,” she cleared her throat. “Well, its…uh…” she walked over to the cases and looked over them. She could feel something coming off of Tuesday now, but she couldn’t pinpoint whether it was anger or disappointment. She tried to play it cool, but it was obvious that she felt kind of awkward now. Tuesday, however, was frozen in place.   
“I guess…they were saving this for future people? Postwar I guess, y’know? Uh…” 

Heat rose into Tuesday’s chest as many thoughts and feelings rushed into his head all at once.   
How could he have dragged her all the way out here, did all of that work, for prewar junk?   
Why did he make her do this?   
Why did he make her risk her life for a bunch of crap?   
There’s no telling how she feels about him now.   
He felt so stupid.   
He felt like a complete dod; proven once again that that’s all he ever was and that there was nothing he could do to change that.  
He’s selfish, self-centered, and most importantly: this was all his fault.   
This is what he thought to himself as the music mocked him. A happy cheery tune, one that would be appropriate for a time of celebration, instead laughed at him in his face for thinking there was anything remotely valuable over here, and forcing his best friend to come along with him.   
Tuesday took a deep breath.

“I need to step out for a moment.”

“Ok.” She was idly flipping through a newspaper. She heard his footsteps grow heavier as he left the room, and suddenly heard a clanking noise, like something striking metal, and turned around to see Tuesday violently kicking the back of the computer. 

“FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!!” he shouted as he gave his last few kicks all the might he could muster before slumping over the console. He held his head in his hands and grumbling more curses to himself. After he had settled down a bit, December dropped the paper and went over to him. 

“Hey, hey, its alright buddy…” she quietly approached him, gently touching his back before placing her whole hand on it. “You’re fine…”

“I’m not! This is not! This is my fault!” he refused to even take his hands away from his face. He just couldn’t see her now. 

“Your fault? You didn’t do anything wrong, Tues.”

“I made you come all the way out here for nothing!” His voice cracked. 

“It wasn’t for nothing, Tuesday. We didn’t know it was just gonna be prewar stuff. For all we knew, it could’ve been anything, like the stuff you were talking about.”

“I’m an idiot…”

“No, you’re not. You know you’re not.” She rubbed his back. 

“…I’m sorry December…” 

“It’s alright, Tuesday. I promise it is. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s ok.”  
She tried to wrap her arms around him, but since he was hunched over and wasn’t going to be moving from that position anytime soon, it was kind of hard to. She instead stood over him still and rubbed his hair. 

“…it may not be a cure for all diseases possible, or a million caps, or anything like that, but maybe we can find something special in there. If anything, we can take the junk back to Sanctuary and scrap it. We can always use junk y’know? One man’s junk is our treasure, heh.” December suddenly had a flashbulb moment, remembering something she had seen back there. 

“Oh! Wait! I did see something you may like! One second!” she left, but quickly returned to the same spot. 

“Hey, you don’t have to look at me, but I want you to look at this. You know what this is.”

“I assume its crap.”

“No, no. Just look.”

Tuesday finally lifted his face from his hands and looked over at her. His teary eyes suddenly lit up again as they did earlier, his face easing away from the dismal and into wonder.  
“2076 World Series baseball bat. Oak wood. Near…perfect condition…”

“Yep!” she patted the bat in her hand a few times before handing it over to Tuesday. “And its all yours.”

“…you don’t want it?” 

“No, no. Not at all. This is meant for you bud. I want you to have it.”  
He hesitated before taking the bat from her. He could feel himself wanting to cry again, so he turned away from her. 

“…thank you. I’m sorry for everything.”

“Buddy,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “this was one Hell of a ride, but we still got a lot of stuff out of it. And you got your Treasure. I couldn’t be more happy about that.” She gingerly tugged on his coat, guiding him back to the room. “Let’s sit down and have a break. You can eat and have a nap while I dig up scrap around the place. Sounds good?”

“I guess so. I really don’t want to, but…”

December laughed. “You are so damn stubborn, Tuesday…”


End file.
